It’s helpful when people have trusted advisers who can help them navigate the rough shores of life. You are no exception and a mentor can be your trusted adviser at work. Committing to a mentoring relationship is a step toward solid growth and development as an employee. Committing yourself to mentoring may well lead you to many rewarding places. Some of the benefits of mentoring that you’ll receive include:

Fast-track Learning

Learning is the first idea one thinks of when they hear the word “mentor”. However, mentoring is much different from a traditional teacher/student set up. For one thing, both you and your mentor establish the agenda. The two of you customise your learning to meet your needs and your goals. There isn’t much wasted time with information or experiences that you already have or may not need. With your mentor’s coaching you decide what you need to work on and what you hope to do. Instead of trial and error on your own, you can use the guidance that your mentor offers to avoid wasting time and experiencing painful pitfalls. Instead of having to “reinvent the entire wheel” you can enjoy the benefit of your mentor’s wheel blueprints to come up with your own version. A mentor helps you streamline training to fit just your needs. This makes professional development a much more streamlined and powerful process.

An Objective Perspective

Sometimes it’s hard to admit to your boss or your co-worker that you’re struggling or that you are unsure of something. A mentor is not someone you work with every day. They don’t work on the same tasks or projects that you do. In other words, they are usually independent and have no reason to react in any way other than objectively about anything that you bring to them. When you are in the middle of the pressures of everyday business, it’s sometimes hard to see things clearly and unemotionally. A mentor can help clear that smoke away by looking in from the outside objectively and helping you assess a problem from that vantage point. An independent look at an issue with which you might be struggling can be just the thing you need to find a solution. Your mentor’s objectivity paired with his experience can be invaluable.

Support and Motivation

Meeting with your mentor should be like an athlete meeting with his coach. After such a meeting you should want to try harder and do better. You set goals with your mentor and are accountable to meeting those goals when you follow up with him. This helps keep you on track. When things go poorly, your mentor can help you sort through things and find a better way to do similar tasks in the future. A mentor will also help you celebrate your successes and create ways for you to build on them. A good mentor will be a constant and steady resource in the middle of your churning work life.

Networking

It’s hard to do well in business these days without a good network of people. Mentors usually have large contact lists. They know people. A mentor can introduce you to people and help you make connections necessary to be a success in your job. If you are new to the job, he can help you become part of the work family by introducing you around. If you’d like to advance in the company, he can certainly help you talk to the right people to prepare for that.